Friday, February 05, 2016

This blog used to be my daily journal, my far-reaching arms to hold close to my friends. Facebook happened and stole my attention and my time.

A lot has happened. Here's the list:

1. I got a job and separated from my husband in the beginning of 2012. I moved into the new RAPTOR facility.

2. I got a divorce at the end of 2012.

3. In between those events, I met someone. His name is Mark.

4. I struggled. I tried. I failed. I tried again. I always got up after being knocked down.

5. I hated many aspects of my job. I just kept at it.

6. In 2014, I moved to Indiana, presumably to give myself a break. That move just made everything more difficult.

7. I struggled. I tried.

8. I started applying for jobs in Louisville. Because that's where Mark is.

9. In October 2015, I was offered a job with the Louisville Fire Department.

10. I moved to Kentucky.

11. I fell in love with my job.

12. In December of 2015, we bought a house.

And here we are, 2016.

I lost something of myself in these years. It's a part I could have used to great effect during the hard times. That part that people love me for, that part that burns hot when I need protection from the storm that is life.

But as I look back and see that I never quit, even when it seemed that I was screwing up every day or making the wrong turns at every turn, I see something. Maybe that part of me that I thought I lost isn't really lost.

Click on this link when you are having a bad day and need a giggle

A Glossary for newcomers to the blog:

"Embrace your Inner Sheep": You'll just have to read back a ways for the explanation of that one.

FTS (Also known as F*** the Swainsons): When you just cannot, under any circumstances, get out and look at another bird today. That's it. I don't care what it is. F*** the Swainsons!

The Flock: A group of women (and a few men thrown in for good measure) who met here in Cyberspace and now travel together to birding festivals. We are unique in this because birders don't usually travel in "packs".

Learning Lemur: (See Science Chimp)

RAPTOR: A Cincinnati-based rehab center for birds of prey (also where I work)

Science Chimp: A term coined by Julie Zickefoose. Meaning anyone who sees something nature-oriented (whether it be scat or bones or the scene of a predator strike) and MUST figure out the circumstances. There is much grunting and "eep-eep-eeping" involved in a full-on Science Chimp display. Someone who is learning the art of Chimping can be called a "Learning Lemur".

"Squeee!": This is a noise you make when something is so cute or perfect, no other word will do.

"What? Lynne has herpes?": What your blogger heard and said during a quiet moment at an owl prowl when someone said that Lynne (Hasty Brook) has groupies.